Forfeiture is _____?

• A. Civil
• B. Criminal
• C. Administrative
• D. Judicial

Answer: (A)

Forfeiture is civil because it describes a government-initiated action to take ownership of property tied to criminal activity, treated as a civil proceeding rather than a criminal charge against a person. The focus is on the property itself and its connection to wrongdoing, not on punishing the person through a criminal conviction. While forfeiture can also appear in criminal settings (criminal forfeiture, tied to a conviction) or occur through administrative procedures in some contexts, the typical classification in exams is civil forfeiture. This means the government pursues the transfer of property under civil procedures, often with a lower standard of proof than in criminal cases.